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April 30: The Reedy River Jazz & Wine Festival

On April 30, Greenville will be hosting the first Reedy River Jazz & Wine Festival on April 30, 2010! Times for each artist's appearance are to be determined, so that's one reason to check back here for additional details.

All proceeds from the Reedy River Jazz and Wine Festival will go to support The Ronald McDonald House here in The Upstate. RMH provides a "home away from home" for the families of critically ill or severely injured children being treated at area hospitals. It's a place of hope and encouragement during an unpredictable time in their lives and the lives of their children. We're truly honored to support this worthy cause.

Several of the top wholesalers in the Greenville market are providing wines: Grapevine, Southern Wine & Spirits, Carolina Wine Source, and Grassroots. Although these names aren't household words for most wine enthusiasts in Greenville, I can tell you that they provide some of the most wonderful wines we enjoy in restaurants and retailers around the Upstate.

You can buy your tickets online, in advance, for $40 (click here for www.reedyriverjazzandwinefestival.org). Or tickets will be available at the gate for $50 per person.

Dreaming of Tuscany . . . and Virginia!

Maybe that's why I woke up thinking about Prosecco Mimosas today (WOTD post below)!  I was dreaming of Tuscany.

Shortly after my wife, Susan, and I moved to Greenville, we took off for Montalcino with friends from Oregon who purchased a week at this villa in a charity auction. We hope the charity benefitted richly from their generosity, because we know we sure did!

The photo overlooking the pool was at breakfast one morning:  bread, cheese, grapes, OJ, Prosecco, and Prosecco Mimosas!  And all of this was simply to prepare for a day in Tuscan Wine Country. The best was yet to come (although I have to admit this wasn't a bad beginning).

The Greenville Wine Meetup is planning wine tours to Virginia, California, France, and Italy.  We began with "baby steps" . . . a chartered motor coach tour of Yadkin Valley and nearby wineries (Shelton, Round Peak, Raffaldini, and RayLen).  Had a gorgeous catered lunch with wine, provided by Chef Paul Lange at the Harvest Grill.  Click the Yadkin Valley link, then scroll down and check out the 100+ photos (or click here).

Now our Meetup is ready to spread our wings a little farther afield.  Look for a Virginia Wine Country tour this summer—tentatively June 10-13.  We'll find a B&B or a pleasant hotel near Charlottesville, and explore the dozens of wineries nearby, including Barboursville, Kluge, Veritas, Linden, Gabriele Rausse (see also this Vine and Grape blog post about Gabrielle), King Family Estate, and more.  If everyone is up for it, we'll dine at Restaurant Pomme in Gordonsville.

If you are interested, click here and send me a note via Meetup.com?  You'll see "Email Me" just below the words "Organizer: Richard" on the left side of the page.  Or just click the comments link below this post, and leave me your name and email address. Thanks and cheers!

WOTD: Wines of the Day

Years ago, when I was one of the administrators for a corporate UNIX machine, the computer's operating system had a feature called MOTD (message of the day).  We used it communicate whatever might be important—or sometimes just fun—for users to know that day.

Well, you can think of this as your WOTD message.  Woke up thinking about Prosecco Mimosas, Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre, and Brandborg "Bench Lands" Pinot Noir! Yep, I think those will be my WOTD.  But first I have to walk the dog and make breakfast.

And as long as I was thinking of sparklers, I'm having fun with the web tool Amazon provides to grab book pictures and descriptions.  Wish we had a similar tool for wines! Lacking that, Don and Petie Kladstrup's book on Champagne is one of the most readable wine books in my library (along with their Wine & War, about the Burgundy region). Richard Juhlin's 4000 Champagnes, on the other hand, is the most comprehensive possible coverage of the topic. Read and enjoy.  Cheers!

       

Rangeland Wines

Back in 2007, I posted about to Vine and Grape about a friend's vineyard (click here).  I'm pleased to say his wines are now being released:  Rangeland Wines, from Adelaida Springs Ranch's ASR Estate Vineyard.

Years ago—long before I moved east from California—he and I flew down in a small plane, landed on the ranch, and walked what would become the vineyard sites.  Adelaida Springs Ranch isn't mine, but it's a great feeling of accomplishment to have been a small part of this effort from the beginning.

Congratulations, Laird, and best wishes for success.

Hey, Cookbooks Talk About Wine, Too!

Well . . . at least some cookbooks talk about wine.  See that great big glass of Australia Shiraz in the background?

And you can count on wine being included in Soby's New South Cuisine Cookbook.  In fact, every recipe—from soups and salad, to main courses and desserts—includes a wine pairing suggestion.  And usually the text not only suggests a wine (or occasionally, beer!), but explains why.  It's almost like a quick class in food-and-wine pairing.

If you don't already have a copy, go to ShopTable301.com and get one now.  OK, OK! I know maybe I'm being immodest, since I'm one of the co-authors.  But the real heros of the book were Chefs Rodney Freidank and David Williams, along with Table 301 restaurateur Carl Sobocinski.  They did the heavy lifting.  I just helped stitch together all the great content they provided.

Bordeaux Blending Exercise Winners!

On March 11, three teams from the Greenville Wine Meetup met in The Loft at Soby's to test their skills!

The winning team is pictured.  From left, Marci Greci, Mike Greci, and Holly Deitz.  With 36% Cabernet Franc, 36% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Merlot, their blend took top honors!  OK, so neither the right- nor left-bank in Bordeaux use that much Malbec.  You had to be there to understand, but this team made all the right choices!

The winning team named their blend "Ojo Rojo" (Red Eye), a blended red wine from the Mahomi Winery (two letters taken from each of their first names).  Congratulations, Mahomi team.  And don't miss checking out Holly's equally creative, limited edition jewelry designs here.  Gorgeous items, Holly!

Kind Kudos

G: The Magazine of Greenville did a very kind article about me recently, as a result of earning my Certified Wine Educator credential from The Society of Wine Educators.  Click here for a great photo of Soby's wine cellar by Paul Mehaffey (look beyond the guy loafing around in the cellar and drinking wine), along with gracious commentary by Managing Editor, Heidi Coryell Williams.  Thanks, Heidi and Paul!

Great Books!

At several recent Greenville Wine Meetups, we've talked about some of the most interesting wine books we've read over the past few months.  Here is a selection I can highly recommend.  Click any image to go to a description of the book.  And I'm happy to answer questions!  Just email me.

                     

A New Look

Welcome to the new Vine and Grape!

The new look provides a bit more space to write about wine.  I've also added Amazon Associate features that will enable me to link you directly to wine information resources come up in conversation here at Vine and Grape. More on that in another post, but for example, you'll see here I've inserted a direct link to one of the most informative (and funny!) wine films you'll find.